December 16, 2009
- AirTran Airways announced the signing of Orlando Magic All-Star
Center Dwight Howard. The Olympic gold medalist, 2008 NBA Slam Dunk
Champion and leader of the 2009 Eastern Conference Champions will be
featured in radio spots, online advertising and high-impact billboards.

To officially kick off this partnership, Howard, along with AirTran
Airways and Orlando Magic executives, unveiled "Magic 1" a one-of-a-kind
Boeing 717 painted in the Magic's colors in Orlando.

"Dwight Howard is one of the most outstanding young athletes in sports
today. His accomplishments on the court and his community involvement
off the court make him a great fit for AirTran Airways and what we
strive to do as the hometown airline," said Tad Hutcheson, AirTran
Airways' vice president of marketing and sales. "We look forward to a
long and successful partnership with him."

Since being
selected as the first overall player in the 2004 draft, Howard has
distinguished himself with numerous awards and accolades, including
being named an All-Star three times, being the youngest player ever to
reach 3,000, 4,000 and 5,000 rebounds and winning a gold medal with Team
USA in the 2008 Summer Olympics. As importantly, Howard has also been
involved in several charitable endeavors, including creating the Dwight
D. Howard Youth Foundation.

AirTran Airways is an American low-cost airline. A subsidiary of AirTran
Holdings, AirTran operates over 750 daily flights, primarily in the
eastern and midwestern United States. AirTran's principal
hub is Hartsfield-JacksonAtlanta
InternationalAirport, where it operates
over 270 daily departures. AirTran Holdings is headquartered at OrlandoInternationalAirport,
where AirTran also maintains a secondary hub. AirTran was often confused
with the unrelated and now-defunct ATA Airlines, due to the similarity
of their names, their comparable price points and the fact that they
commonly shared focus cities such as
BostonLoganAirport.
AirTran is the world's largest Boeing 717-200 operator.

In 1992, the predecessor airline, ValuJet Airlines, was founded by
airline industry veterans, including an executive group from the former
Southern Airways and pilots, mechanics and flight attendants from the
defunct Eastern Air Lines.

Created to fill the void at Hartsfield-JacksonAtlanta
InternationalAirport after Eastern Air Lines'
demise, ValuJet Airlines started with two former Delta Air Lines' DC-9
aircraft, and the first commercial flight occurred between
Atlanta
and Tampa
on October 26, 1993. The airline was the first to launch ticketless
travel in 1993.